If worried about the security and the privacy of your Web browsing, there are two things you can do – install as many security add-ons as you can to your favorite browser, or change to a secure browser. Avira Scout is a Chromium-based browser that comes with all the security features required to guarantee a safe, private, and danger-free Web surfing. Making use of Avira’s powerful databases, it is capable of blocking millions of potentially and known dangerous sites, PUAs, and other malicious activities.
Its clear and neat interface, together with the settings section and the tools it comes with, will strongly remind you of Chrome. Similarities aside, Avira Scout comes with a plethora of safety measures devised to protect your Web surfing from any malicious interference. The first safety-related message will warn you about using Adobe Flash with this browser. Despite being compatible with this player, you will have to use the link provided to download and install it at your own risk. Most of these features are available as individual add-ons that you can install or not to your favorite browser – Avira Scout has gathered them all in one place to make your browsing experience safer than ever. Most are nicely embedded in the browser’s design and you will only see them if anything goes wrong. Others are more evident, such as SafeSearch.
This proprietary search tool works like any other top engine, but with a special emphasis on security. All the search hits are clearly categorized according to their level of safety. You will also be warned about any PUA the engine may detect in the sites you navigate to and will protect you from any other emerging threat. Another quite visible protection feature is the incognito navigation feature. This will open in a new dark-colored window, and whatever site you visit, whatever file you download, they will become invisible (even to you) as soon as you close your browser. All traces of your Web activities will be wiped out, and no site or search engine will be notified about your preferences or interests whatsoever.
Using secure browsers has its pros and cons. If security and privacy are your main concerns, a browser like Avira Scout will surely put your mind at ease, though at a price. Avira Scout’s main priority is a 100%-safe browsing experience, which means that every URL you want to go to, every file you wish to download, every search result, and every link you may want to follow will be thoroughly analyzed beforehand for possible threats. This intensive check-up activity may slow down your Web navigation, and even turn it into a sluggish experience. Besides, in order to make sure that all the sites you visit and all the files you download are perfectly safe, Avira needs to check every step you take against its own databases – this means that even though no site may ever know about your browsing activities, Avira does.
Having said that, I have to say that Avira Scout is one of the most elegant and nicely designed secure browsers available out there. It saves you the fuss of installing a number of security-related add-ons in all your browsers, making security and privacy a default.
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